


Welcome in the Green

by saiyuri_dahlia



Series: Our First Year [5]
Category: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: M/M, easter fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-19
Updated: 2014-04-19
Packaged: 2018-01-20 00:29:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1490038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiyuri_dahlia/pseuds/saiyuri_dahlia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the time of new beginnings and new life, the Ordon kids find one extra egg out on their hunt...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Welcome in the Green

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to thank all the readers who left kudos on the last special and the other specials before it. I'm posting this one a little early since between work and family, this is one moment I've got to do it in peace. As always, thanks for reading.

Series Title: Our First Year

Disclaimer: I guess I don't own Twilight Princess. Pretty sure I don't.

-o-

Vernaltide (Easter): Welcome in the Green

-o-

Eggs hidden and a communal breakfast of pancakes and milk with honey devoured, Link, Shad, and all the villagers of Ordon sat on small log benches in the center of town around a short raised platform for the First Morning ceremony. Rusl on his fiddle and Bo on his panpipes laid out the main melody as Jaggle played drums and Hanch rang a bell at the right moments as Ilia, playing the Spring Maid, sang a traditional air called "Welcome in the Green".

Truthfully, since for the longest time Ilia had been the only girl in the village for many years, Ilia was always the Spring Maid and knew the part well. This year happened to be the first year she was the proper age for the part. She could finally wear the Maid's white gown and the trailing lace veil that attached at the wrists and behind the sash. When they were little, Link used to call it the ghost dress since in the right wind the dress and veil, but especially the veil, would flutter and drift in the air. He used to tease Ilia mercilessly about one day wearing that dress and getting sacrificed to Ordona.

Once there was a time Link would have ran from that dress in pretend fear, now he couldn't imagine missing seeing Ilia wear it for the first time. The dress suited her well and Ilia did not just know the Maid's part, she was a Spring Maid.

"As snow melts and rivers rise," Ilia sang and cradled a tiny brown baby bunny in her arms. "Come forth the lilies, irises, and daisy-eyes and welcome in the green."

As the story went, the baby bunny was the Maid's future husband transformed so it was traditional for every Maid to hold one at least during her song. Typically, the village would fatten up the little rabbit until Hallowtide when it would be eaten but Ilia was already voicing her doubts that they would be having _her_ rabbit at Hallowtide.

Knowing Honey wouldn't have sat still for a second with the scent of bunny in the air, Link waited until the egg hunt to bring her out. Shad didn't think that was a good idea, what with all the eggs hidden here, there, and at corgi mouth level. Link told him not to worry, even though the scholar would and wouldn't take an eye off her until every egg was found.

As the kids were told once again how far they could go while Link tried to convince Shad that Honey was perfectly fine and just as Shad started to come around and relax, Honey walked right in front of him with an egg in her mouth. Head raised high, she was very proud of her find.

Happy to show her papas how smart she was, Honey came to Link when he called her but fought and turned away from him every time he and Shad tried to take her egg. When he at last grabbed it from her, Link realized the kids were all looking at him and the egg in his hand.

"This is not an egg," Link said, even though it was. His voice and grin pretty much begged the kids to believe his terrible cover up. "But everyone shut your eyes and count to fifty."

Knowing he was just going to go hide the egg again, the kids grinned and shook their heads—Malo rolled his eyes—at the silliness of it all. It may have been one egg but this was an egg hunt and the kids shouldn't know where any of the eggs were. If the hunt was going to be absolutely fair, with no advantages, it had to be quickly hidden.

Link came back, the egg hunt was started, and Shad refused to set Honey down until all the eggs were found. After much whimpering and wiggling from their curious pup, the scholar decided to wait with Uli inside while Link and Ilia watched over the kids together until Pergie called Ilia away to help prepare for the evening feast.

Watching the kids run around and find eggs brought back a lot of memories of his and Ilia's own egg hunts. Link usually found most of the eggs but Ilia would wind up having the most by the end because Link would eat his. Just as it was when they were growing up, the reward for finding the most eggs was a red rupee and the kids scoured every inch of the village, ranch, and what little parts of the forest they were allowed to roam in search of eggs. Link had not hidden any egg anywhere too dangerous or out of reach for most of the kids. He tried to keep the hunt fair and equal for any one of the kids to win.

When he knew most of the eggs were found, Link waited outside his home for the kids to gather. Soon enough, Shad came home, still carrying a wiggling Honey in his arms.

"I say, is Colin's fish still the one you won at Hallowtide?" Shad said, at last letting Honey down and tossing her a ball to fetch. "It certainly could not be one in the same, could it? Goldfish do not reach such size and length."

"Apparently, they do," Link said, smiling with a bit of pride at how well Colin was taking care of his fish. "Rusl blew a special glass tank but the way she's growing, she'll flop right out of it. They'll put her in the river when the water warms."

"You believe it will survive such an environment?"

"Sure, it's lived this long," Link said, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm more worried about the greengills. To Pumpkin, they're snack-sized."

"Fortunately, they repopulate quickly—" Shad said as he looked away. "Ah, the children are returning."

"We found all the eggs," Beth called as the kids came running down the pathway to the spirit spring.

"Yea, I even found an extra special big one," Talo said, slightly out of breath as he picked up the young Ordon pumpkin-sized egg sitting on top of all his smaller decorated eggs. "See?"

"I say, I do not remember the inclusion of such an egg," Shad said, adjusting his slipped spectacles. "Did you and Rusl settle upon this last minute?"

"We didn't have any extra eggs," Link said, picking up the egg from Talo. "Where did you find it?"

"On the ground. Like all the others," Talo said.

"Well, this isn't one of ours," Link said, turning the squat teardrop-shaped egg over in his hands and following the red and blue lines he swore he had seen before but for the life in him couldn't remember where. "I've never seen an egg like this."

"Neither have I, old boy," Shad said as he offered his hand and Link handed the egg over to him to inspect. "Rather distinct shape and markings, it possesses. I am unfamiliar with any currently known species that produces a similar pattern."

"So it could be anything?" Talo said, his eyes wide in anticipation. "Is it a dragon? I want a pet dragon."

Malo narrowed his eyes and glared at his older brother. "Yea, our parents are really going to let _you_ have a dragon."

Beth wasn't convinced either. "If a mama dragon lived in our woods, Link and Colin's dad would've found it before you found its egg."

"We could've found something new?" Colin asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Possibly," Shad said, smiling at his interest. "It could also be a variant or subspecies of a known creature but nonetheless it is a fascinating discovery."

"And since I found it, I get to keep it!" Talo said proudly.

Link softly laughed as he tousled his hair. "Depends on how many teeth its got and what it breathes."

"See? Link thinks it's a dragon," Talo said, leaning toward Beth, and stuck his tongue out at her.

"We won't know what it is until it hatches," Beth snapped back.

"When will it hatch?" Colin asked.

"I cannot pinpoint a precise time, though I do believe I sense the hatchling stirring. Would you like to feel?" Shad said, crouching down to Colin's level.

A little hesitant at first, the fair-haired boy reached forward and laid a hand on the egg. His eyes and smile grew wide at the pleasant surprise. "I-It's moving."

"Let me feel," Beth shouted and Talo and Malo rushed to feel as well.

Soon, all the children had a hand on the egg.

"It feels weird," Talo said.

"It is a new life," Shad said. "Whatever sort of creature is inside, it will be born soon, take its first breath, see a new world, wiggle its hands and feet or whatever appendages it may possess for the first time. This is the time for new beginnings. Is it not fascinating?"

"We better keep it warm so it'll hatch quicker," Beth said.

"Yea, I want my dragon!" Talo chimed in.

Beth turned to Talo and said, "I hope it eats you."

"No, it won't 'cause I'll make it eat you," he shouted back.

"All right…" Link intervened. "All your fighting's gonna look silly when it turns out it's a fluffy pink jackalope."

Shad blinked his eyes twice in confusion. "What in heaven's name is a jackalope?"

"A hare with deer antlers on its head," Link said with his hands at his head spread out like antlers.

Link's explanation didn't seem to lessen the scholar's confusion. "That has to be the most ridiculous concept of a creature I have ever heard."

"And cucco with human faces is just on this side of perfectly reasonable," Link said with a slight smirk as he headed up the ladder to his home and then lowered Honey's basket.

"Mind you that we have proof the Oocca exists," Shad replied, whistling for Honey and setting her in her basket. Little corgi legs couldn't climb ladders and Link and Shad hadn't figured out a way for Honey to get up and down besides with a pulley yet. "Your jackalope is clearly a fabrication of human boredom, possibly facilitated by a high level of inebriation."

"Until I find one," Link said, his voice full of self-confidence. The kids each sighed and rolled their eyes as they followed up the ladder with their baskets hanging on their arm. None of them believed him anymore. Wasn't going to stop Link from surprising them. He couldn't wait to see their little faces light up when he finally caught one.

"Yes, well, good luck in your endeavor," Shad said, letting Honey and the kids inside first.

"You don't believe me," Link said, laughing in his own disbelief. "Really, you? You, of all people, should understand—"

"It is not that I do not believe you, my dear. I simply possess astronomical skepticism on the likelihood of its existence is all. Should you one day provide irrefutable proof confirming its reality, I will most gladly admit I was incorrect," Shad said as he went over to and rummaged through his clothes trunk. "Ah, this shall suffice."

Shad wrapped the mystery egg in what Link swore was the ugliest argyle sweater that ever was and ever would be knitted. Link couldn't stand the peach-orange and lime green monstrosity but Shad refused to get rid of it and even insisted on wearing it in the winter months, mostly because his mother had knitted it herself and had mostly knitted it right. Link was convinced she had decided on those ridiculously bright colors to purposively tick him off. One of these days, it was going to go missing and Link was only going to pretend to help Shad look for it.

"Will that keep it warm?" Colin asked. "Shouldn't it lay on something that makes heat?"

"Like a fire?" Talo said and by the look on Beth and Malo's faces, either one could have smacked him.

"I got an idea," Link said and then trying not to speak through clenched teeth, he added, "Put the sweater on." Much as Link would've rather he tossed it in the cooking fire.

"Ah, very well then…" Shad said and didn't sound as if he followed Link's plan. "Am I warming the sweater?"

"You could say that."

Once Shad had the sweater on, Link took the egg and stuck it under the accursed wool. The sweater, being just big enough to fit the scholar, clung tightly around the egg and even if Shad wasn't cradling the egg and holding it in place, it still wouldn't have fallen.

"There. That ought to keep it warm," Link said, grinning as he patted the egg as it rested against Shad's stomach.

"You look like Colin's mom," Beth said, "before the baby came."

"Does that mean when it hatches, you're gonna be its momma?" Talo asked.

Shad frowned in displeasure as Link continued to grin. "See what you have started?" he grumbled as he sat down on their sofa to brood the egg.

Having had her lunch and a long drink, Honey padded over and hopped up and into Shad's lap, her paws pressing on the egg.

"No, no, Honey," Shad said urgently, picking her up and off the egg as she wagged her tail and wiggled to free herself and get close to Shad. "Forgive me, little one, however my lap is occupied for the time being."

"Come here, girl," Colin said, taking Honey in his arms as best he could as she wiggled and licked his face in hello. "Let's go practice our trick."

As Colin and the kids tried to get Honey to balance a cookie on the end of her nose without her eating it or snapping at it in the least, Link worked on counting out the eggs the kids had found.

"Bet a red rupee on it?" he asked Shad, moving on from Malo's small basket to Beth's.

Not understanding what he was referring to, the scholar scrunched up his face in confusion.

"On whether I find a jackalope," Link explained, a bit of a conspiring grin on his face. "Come on. If they don't exist, it's the easiest twenty rupees you ever make."

"He's been all over these woods and still hasn't found it," Malo said, evidently finding their discussion of money more interesting than watching Honey completely ignore Colin and Talo's plentiful orders to sit. "Make it a purple rupee."

"Red'll be fine," Link said, faintly laughing.

"Orange would make it worthwhile," Malo insisted. "Silver would make it a victory."

"Pardon me, child, but are you aware a silver rupee is worth two hundred green rupees?"

"I own Malo Mart," he said, his voice and stare flat. "I see silver rupees all day."

Beth held her hands on her hips and tipped her head to the side. "How come your family isn't rich if you're making so much money?"

"Prime shop leasing is ridiculously high in Castle Town," Malo grumbled.

"I can confirm that," Shad said with an agreeing nod. "Any sort of leasing, be it a shop or an apartment, is exorbitant."

"So we have a bet?" Link said, eyes and smile wide with expectation. Malo opened his mouth. "Twenty will be fine."

Shad sighed. "Oh, all right…" he said. "Just to amuse you—a-ah!" He clutched the egg, its stirring visible even under his sweater.

"It's hatching!" Talo shouted and the kids scrambled over to watch.

As the egg wobbled from side to side, Shad steadied the egg, holding it in place. Their little audience leaned in closer, jostling their position for the best view. Slowly, a little crack broke across the shell. Then a little more broke. And then another crack appeared and broke even more. As Shad snapped away the cracked pieces of shell and widened the opening, light shined in on the little hatchling and made it cry out. Drawn by its high, shrill cry, Honey ran over and barked frantically.

"It's my dragon!" Talo said, craning his neck to get a better view and blocking everyone else's.

"Doesn't sound like a dragon," Beth said, pulling him back and out of the way.

Shad broke away more and more of the egg until the hatchling was absolutely, undeniably visible. Unfortunately, the hatchling was not a dragon, or a jackalope, but a screeching infant's head, red-faced from crying and wet and slimy from birth. The children stared at it in shock and horror.

"W-What is it?" Colin asked.

Awe and tears in his eyes, Shad slipped his hands into the remaining bit of eggshell and gingerly picked up the little head. "…It's an Oocca. A newborn Oocca."

Link suddenly remembered where he had seen those red and blue lines on the egg before. They were the same markings as the ones around the grown Oocca's heads.

"Oocca?" Beth asked, eyebrow raised.

"The bird lady and her son. They visited us at the Harvest Feast," Colin said. "Her son looked just like that but not as scary."

"And he didn't wail like a tortured man," Malo said wryly as he held his pudgy baby hands over his ears.

"I say, there is no necessity to cause such an uproar. Everything may be new and unfamiliar, however I will assure you that you are perfectly safe," Shad told the crying newborn Oocca in a calm voice as he cradled it and rose from the couch and walked over a basket full of old clothes destined for rags and patches. "If you would be kind enough to do so, old boy, please draw some water in a bowl."

Link did so and grabbed Honey as she ran over barking madly at Shad as the scholar laid the little Oocca down on some old tunics and began washing it.

He found it ironic that the scholar who could not bear to hook a bee larva without dry heaving was absolutely beaming and softly humming to the baby Oocca as he happily cleaned off the afterbirth while Link struggled to hold down his pancakes.

Link had seen their goats give birth, heck he had helped with a few, gotten his hands dirty, and hadn't thought anything of it. But something about the crying infant's head covered in slime and wet feathers made Link turn away. While Ooccoo and Ooccoo Jr. had became good friends over the course of his adventure, Link still couldn't get used to how the Oocca looked. There was just something…off about them.

As the baby Oocca cried, Link and the kids watched as various items around Link's house began to shine in a white light, suddenly disappear, and just as quickly reappear elsewhere, mostly in mid-air and hitting the floor. Link and Colin hurried about trying to catch things, everything from books, cups, egg baskets, dog bones to knives, chairs, pitchforks, dressers, and crates.

"We've got a ghost!" Talo shouted, hunkering down and covering his arms over his head. "A poultry-guy!"

"Poltergeist," Shad corrected, "and I assure you there is a perfectly logical reason for all of this."

"Yea…it's the baby…" Link said in a strained voice as he caught one of Shad's book trunks dropping from the ceiling. "Oocca children have more magic than the adults. Ooccoo Jr. used to teleport me out of dungeons and apparently they aren't born with full control."

"I say, that is a perfectly logical reason, indeed," Shad replied, perfectly calm and focusing solely on the crying little Oocca.

"Kids, grab Honey and go outside for a bit," Link said and the kids listened.

Link ran around catching things he didn't want broke or dropped on the ground—many of which were Shad's books because he knew how upset the scholar would be if anything happened to them—as things disappeared and reappeared all around him.

"There we go, all clean," Shad said as he swaddled the crying Oocca in one of his threadbare dress shirts. He turned around, saw the mess and Link setting a vase down, and stared wide-eyed. "What in blazes happened to the house? Odd choice of timing for a redecorating, old boy."

"Yea, no kidding," Link said, bent over and catching his breath. "The baby Oocca's magic wants eggs on the rug and our bed standing straight up on my back."

Link felt like he had rolled into one too many trees. Didn't help that the newborn Oocca continued to wail and didn't seem at all to hear Shad's soothing words or liked his gentle rocking.

"Goddesses in heaven, can you make it stop?" Link shouted, covering his ears and wincing in pain.

"I say, it is not as if I have not been trying to!" Shad said, cheeks turning red and frustrated tears welling in his eyes. "But I know not how! I read and speak five forms of Hylian and a verisimilitude of regional dialects, four forms of Zora, two forms of Goron, speak conversational Gerudo, and I read Sky Writing. Newborn wails, I'm afraid, are not a language I am capable of translating!"

Tears rolling, body trembling, Shad stood clutching the screaming Oocca and sobbed. Whether the Oocca busted his ears and left him deaf, Link didn't care and wrapped his arms around Shad. The scholar cried into the crook of his shoulder as Link rubbed his back in broad circles and murmured that it would be all right.

"Why will it not cease crying, old boy?" Shad said, his voice catching.

"Maybe it's hungry?" Link guessed.

The sound logic brought the scholar back to his senses. "That is a possibility," Shad said, sniffling and drying his eyes. "Do you possess any knowledge of what a young Oocca may consume?"

"Uh, no…" He smiled apologetically. "But I'm sure we'll make do with what we've got. Be right back."

Link came back with a bottle of goat's milk. With the little Oocca still screaming and Honey still barking at it at the bottom of Link's ladder, the kids leaned into the open doorway and watched.

"I am not at all positive that goat's milk is suitable to your constitution," Shad said, filling a medicine dropper with milk, "however it is the only liquid source of nutrition we possess for you, little one. Hopefully, it will suffice."

Placing the tip of the dropper brimming with milk at its lips, Shad dropped a few droplets of milk into its mouth. Since it did not spit it back out, he gave it a little more. It was a rushed, repetitive process of quickly filling the dropper and feeding the hungry Oocca but bit by bit, its cries lessened and sounded more demanding than pained.

"There, I believe we finally came to interpret your desire accordingly," Shad said, as the newborn Oocca began to lean forward to reach the milk sooner. "I say, however there was no requirement to make such ado, little one."

"All that 'cause it was hungry?" Talo said from the door. "It's even bossier than Beth!"

For that, she smacked him.

"Is it all right now?" Colin asked.

"Yea," Link said through his laughter. "World saved, crisis averted. You all come back in."

All the kids came back in and Link brought in Honey, who still barked at the little Oocca. She finally listened to Link's reprimanding hushes and laid down on her bed. Even so, she kept watchful eyes on Shad. Once in a while, Link heard her whine.

The kids sat around and watched the quiet Oocca as it looked around the room and at each of them.

"It's not so scary when it's not screaming and covered in ick," Beth said, slowly reaching her hand over and lightly petting its head. "It's fuzzy. Like a cucco chick."

"Where they come from?" Talo asked.

Link turned away and walked into his kitchen so Shad wouldn't see him snicker and grin at the bag of cats Talo had let free by asking Shad about the Oocca. Oh, the scholar would tell him but the kids might wind up sleeping over and having breakfast with them by the time the scholar finished answering him. Immediate danger to his life was pretty much the only thing that would quiet Shad on his own. If the kids weren't around, Link would've quieted him the usual way.

Sure enough, he was happy to answer, "What is known is that they existed before the Hylians and legends propose the possibility that they created the land that would become Hyrule."

Unlike most of Castle Town, the kids were interested listeners to his research. Link wasn't sure if they actually believed him but they liked to listen to the story all the same.

"I will be able to inquire deeper into the origins of the Oocca when myself and Link travel soon to the City in the Sky," the scholar explained. "I say, I do question whether we should postpone our expedition until Harriet has matured…"

"Harriet?" Link said, face scrunched up in confusion.

"Yes, that will be her name," Shad insisted.

"How do you know it's a girl?" Link asked.

The scholar stared down at the little Oocca and wondered and questioned. "We will call her Harry for short and as a future precaution that 'she' may mature into a 'he'."

Link grinned to himself as he started fixing his house back.

"Though if you are male, Laurence would suit you well," Shad said. "We could call you Laurie if you happened to be female."

The newborn Oocca bounced up and fluttered the tiny wings on the side of its head. It didn't gain much loft but it was determined to try.

"What's it doing?" Beth asked.

"It's trying to fly," Link explained as he swept the broken eggs off the rug and into a pile.

"I wonder if all newborn Oocca begin to attempt to fly soon after hatching or if my dear little Laurie is precocious…"

"Sticking with Laurie now?" Link said, grinning.

"At the present time it seems most suitable," Shad said, pink on his cheeks.

"Oh!" Colin said, as if suddenly remembering something. "Who won the egg hunt?"

"Uh, not sure," Link said, staring down at the pile of cracked hardboiled eggs at his feet. "I didn't get the chance to count them all."

"Great, so no one gets the rupee," Malo said, disappointed.

"How about this? We'll spilt the rupee and let you kids pick yourself out a big bag of candy in Castle Town," Link said and the kids were happy with that, although Malo wasn't so keen on the idea, especially now that he was only getting five rupees.

"I say, this will be a fascinating study of the Oocca's physical maturation," Shad declared, lifting the little Oocca in his cupped hands, as the Oocca grew tried of trying to fly, yawned, and nodded off to sleep. "I never even fancied the potential that I would be permitted such an opportunity to raise an Oocca from an egg."

"But I found it!" Talo insisted.

"Do you want to take care of it?" Malo said wryly.

The dark-haired boy stared at the sleeping Oocca as if it was a live frog he had to eat. "…I'm just saying I found it."

"Your contribution shall be duly noted in my papers," Shad said, checking up on the Oocca and finding it had gone to sleep. "Ah, nap time, so it appears."

As the scholar rose from the sofa with the Oocca in his arms, Honey also got up from her bed and followed Shad around wherever he went as he gathered a round basket and some old clothes and made the little Oocca a bed. Link thought about ordering her back to her bed but she wasn't barking at him—she just stood underfoot and stared up at him.

"My little princess," Shad said sternly as he nearly tripped over Honey for the fourth time. "It would be most appreciated if you did not stand directly by my feet."

"Come here, girl," Link called, crouching to her level and snapping his fingers. It took a couple of whistles but finally Honey looked at Link, chose not to come to him, and stared back up at Shad.

While the baby Oocca snoozed, Shad and the kids helped Link clean and straighten the house. Once they were done, there was still some time before dinner, so Link took the kids and Honey out on a walk in the meadow and watched bunnies, old and young, hop through the green. Link had never seen any outside his province, or actually far from this meadow. He didn't blame them. The sun was warm, the wind blew the scent of hay from the ranch, and the grass would grow tall by summer, high enough for rabbit or person to hide in.

By the time Link brought the kids back, tables had been set out for the feast, white tablecloths gently swaying in the light breeze. Ordon Village didn't decorate much for Vernaltide, mostly because they did not need to. Early spring flowers, like wild yellow and white daffodils, and flowering trees provided plenty of color and sign of the season. A few pastel green and yellow ribbons here, a carved wooden rabbit statue there, and Ordon Village was decked out for the holiday.

After a quick scrub and wash, the village dressed in their Vernaltide best—light, pastel dresses for the ladies, traditional Ordon wear for the men, and a new lavender waistcoat bought specially for the occasion for Shad. The village gathered in the afternoon sun and tasted the bounty of spring, reminisced together and looked forward to the coming year, and laughed away winter's bitterness.

The newborn Oocca certainly had the village talking. It had taught itself out how to fly and fluttered overhead but never roamed far from Shad and rested on his shoulder when it tired. Shad had taken to talking to his little Laurie and not only did the Oocca listen but also cooed and chirped in reply.

After feasting, music, and dancing well into the night, Link and Shad headed home by lanturn's light. The little Oocca still fluttered about, powered by Uli's sweet rice pudding, as Shad laid Honey in her bed and covered the sleeping pup with her blanket.

"Did you hear that scratching?" the scholar asked, tucking Honey's keaton doll next to her.

"Nuh uh," Link said through a mouthful of honey cake.

They paused and listened and eventually catching the harsh but low scratching on Link's front door. Link checked, opening his door to find a surprised bunny munching on some greens. As the bunny hopped off, Link looked to Shad and shrugged his shoulders. And then a sudden, strident shriek sounded as a grown Oocca, walking on the walls, ran inside and immediately targeted Shad.

Woken by the commotion and seeing the squawking grown Oocca go after her papa, Honey protected Shad and chased the Oocca up a wall. It did not remain there long and quickly hopped from the wall and glided toward the frightened and perplexed scholar. Link caught it mid-flight and before its talons could touch him.

"Ooccoo?" Link asked, turning the Oocca around to see its face. "No, you're not her." It shrieked and tried to bite him but Link leaned out of the way in time. "Now there's no need for that. Calm down."

The Oocca made a hissing sound in response.

"I don't think it speaks Hylian," Link said.

"I say, whatever could have infuriated it so…" Shad wondered and then saw the baby Oocca fluttering about, staring down on the chaos with a worried, confused expression on its face. "We have stolen its baby."

"Yea, that would do it," Link agreed.

Digging a talon into Link's arm and forcing him to let go, the Oocca hopped out of his arms, landed on the floor, and looked up at its baby. Determined to protect her papas, Honey ran over but Link grabbed her. The grown Oocca chirped and trilled and slowly the baby Oocca fluttered over by it. The grown Oocca wrapped its wings around it, nuzzled the baby, and softy sang to it. The baby Oocca's face gradually went from confused to cheery and smiling. Finally understanding the grown Oocca was its parent, the baby Oocca chirped brightly.

As the grown Oocca headed for the door, the baby Oocca fluttered about in tow. After a few steps, the baby Oocca turned and flew over to Shad and landed on his shoulder.

"I realize you must depart for home but we shall meet again in due time, I promise," the scholar said, his voice catching as he teared up, as the little Oocca chirped and nuzzled cheek to cheek with him. "And there will be plentiful visits planned. When I have taught you Hylian, we shall write. I will assure you, we shall never be parted for long. I shall even bring you rice pudding."

Shad cupped his hands around the little Oocca and held it in front of him. "Take care, my dear little Laurie."

The bright-eyed little Oocca smiled and bounced in his hands and said, "I say!"

Smiling through his weeping, Shad leaned down and kissed the baby Oocca on its forehead, put his arms forward, and let the little Oocca flutter back to its parent. In a flash of white light, the two Oocca were gone.

Closing the door, Link put Honey down and wrapped a comforting arm around the crying scholar. "You okay?"

"I shall be," he said, drying his eyes. "Our family grew and shrunk and all in one day."

Giving the scholar's cheek a long kiss, Link grinned and murmured in his ear, "You'll make a great mama one day."

Shad laughed softly with Link through his tears. He smiled gratefully as he wrapped his arms around him. Link was just happy to see his scholar smiling.

Taking a deep breath and sighing, Shad sat down on the sofa and Honey immediately hopped up into his lap and laid down.

"You know what?" Link said, sitting down beside him. "I think she was jealous."

"Think so, old boy?" Shad said, grinning, as the little pup stretched out on her belly.

"That is your papa's lap, isn't it, Hon'?" Link said as Honey yawned.

"If this is how we shall welcome in the green," Shad said, resting a hand on Honey's back, "I do believe the coming year shall be an interesting one."

"Want to make plans on our trip to the City?" Link said, a knowing grin on his face.

"Indeed, my dear," Shad said straightaway, matching Link's grin. "Let us proceed."


End file.
